One key element of modern Christianity is the concept of salvation. It is often at the center of endless theological debatesâsalvation by works versus salvation by faith, the question of whether one can lose salvation, or the doctrine of âonce saved, always saved.â These debates ultimately narrow down to a singular, anxiety-laden question: Are you saved? This approach often feeds off fearâthe fear of judgment, the fear of what happens after death, and the fear of being excluded from Godâs … [Read more...] about Salvation: Whoâs In and Whoâs Out
Death
The Son Makes Us Free
The publication called The Hedgehog Review is an intellectual publication written by intellectuals for intellectuals. One article that particularly stood out began with this sentence: âHow do we foster the conditions conducive to a truly enduring moral and ethical order?" There are highly intellectual people writing, trying to find this moral and ethical order for themselves. There are a couple of comments in the book section, one mentioning a graduate student in the Germanic Studies … [Read more...] about The Son Makes Us Free
Life After Death
The concepts of heaven and hell require that a person lives in some form after death. You donât really die. Both heaven and hell are places where people live for eternity. If you wanted an expert in the field of going to heaven, I doubt you could do better than Billy Graham. He says: âHeaven for the Christian will be a place of glorious life that will never end. Joy inexpressible, limitless peace, pure love, beauty beyond description â thatâs what heaven is. Greatest of all … [Read more...] about Life After Death
God of the Living
God instructed Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If he did eat, God said the consequences would be that dying, you shall die. In time, both Adam and Eve, did eat the fruit, and so death entered the world. Ever since then, humanity has been cursed with a physical death. The question came up soon after: what happens after death? Throughout history, man has developed many different explanations and ideas related to what happens after … [Read more...] about God of the Living
Death and Beyond
While we all know something about living a physical life, it is important to gain an understanding of death and what is beyond. Paul's perspective in I Corinthians 15:19-26 is very enlightening: "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death [through Adam], by Man [Christ] also came the resurrection of the dead. For as … [Read more...] about Death and Beyond
Character: Our #1 Goal
God created mankind in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). The Bible makes it clear that the basis of God's character is love, so developing Godly love is to be our primary focus in life as followers of Christ. The entire universe has been finely tuned to facilitate a life that can choose to develop this character trait. There are 4 main forces at play in the universe. Two of them are gravity and electromagnetism. It is obvious that a lot of thought and effort has gone into balancing … [Read more...] about Character: Our #1 Goal
The Calming Light
Death of a Loved One From time-to-time events cause us to deeply consider the reality of our own mortality. One of those times inevitably is when we experience the death of someone close to us. This is particularly true in a situation that involves a devastating disease such as cancer or a tragic accident â those times when death is unexpected and premature. Experiencing the process causes us to be very realistic about just what we are as physical beings. Many of the Psalms capture the … [Read more...] about The Calming Light